Floor Statements

Mr. Speaker, I rise with both pride and sadness today with my colleague Mike Thompson to honor one of Sonoma County's pioneering leaders. Jess Stonestreet Jackson passed away April 12, 2011, at his home in Geyserville, California. From the wine industry to local philanthropy, Jess Jackson touched lives across the North Bay, and he was admired and respected for his devotion to our region.

Born on February 18, 1930, and raised in San Francisco, Jess Jackson worked numerous jobs as a child to support his parents. As a young adult, he worked as a long shoreman and police officer to put himself through the University of California, Berkeley. He embodied the American ideal that a dedicated and hardworking person can build a successful life.

With a unique drive and an entrepreneurial spirit, Jess Jackson established himself as a leader in the American wine industry. With a successful law career in San Francisco, he began growing grapes in the 1970s. He produced his first wine in the 1980s at the age of 52, quickly putting Sonoma County on the map as one of the premier wine- growing regions of the world. Jackson's work redefined the use of ``California'' as an appellation of quality for Chardonnay. His family company, Jackson Family Wines, now operates over 30 wineries around the globe.

Jackson was also known for devoting much of his energy, intellect and financial resources to help others. He donated millions of dollars to charities locally and across the country. In Sonoma County, for example, he supported the Family Justice Center, the Redwood Empire Food Bank, and the Boys and Girls Clubs. He and his wife, Barbara R. Banke, spearheaded a wine auction, Sonoma Paradiso, raising millions of dollars for a host of local causes for the benefit of children.

Jackson and Banke also embarked on a pioneering venture to promote the study and practice of sustainable viticulture. Their multimillion- dollar commitment to the University of California, Davis, which will fund the construction of a wine center geared toward education, testifies to the forward-thinking approach Jackson always took to business and agriculture in the Wine Country. I will create an opportunity for future generations to practice sustainable viticulture.

In addition to his wife, Jackson is survived by his five children and their families who will continue his legacy in the North Bay.

I thank the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, for the last 18 years as a Member of this body I have listened to Republicans go on and on about keeping government out of the health care system. That and taking away the voice of women actually puts the government between that woman and her most private health care decisions and is the biggest, the most intrusive government of all.

I thought my Republican friends hated taxes, but apparently they hate reproductive freedom and women's rights even more, because this bill would raise taxes on small businesses that provide their employees with health plans that include abortion coverage. And in one of its most egregious provisions, this bill could lead to IRS audits of women who seek abortion care after they have had a sexual assault. Absolutely unconscionable. Vote ``no'' on H.R. 3.

Yes, indeed, just to follow up on the gentleman from Oregon, we are, in our efforts to reauthorize elementary and secondary education, expanding to the whole child, we hope, including civics and art and music.

Mr. Speaker, my first thought when watching the news last Sunday night was about the many people, the many people, who have a hole in their hearts and in their homes because of the senseless, brutal violence perpetrated by Osama bin Laden. There was 9/11, of course, but also the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Embassy bombings in East Africa, the attack on the USS Cole. Bin Laden is responsible for so much evil, and I hope that the families of his victims can now find some measure of peace and hopefully some closure.

He is dead, but the terrorism threat he represents remains alive and well. The network he created continues to thrive. And I believe, Mr. Speaker, that al Qaeda will remain strong as long as we, the United States of America, continue our policy of aggressive militarism in the Middle East.

The war in Afghanistan remains an epic failure that is bankrupting us morally and fiscally. Our nearly 10-year occupation has emboldened those who hate America instead of defeating them. It has created more terrorists than it has killed. It is undermining our national security interests, not advancing them. It is making us less safe, not more.

None of that changes with the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Just last week, a retired Army lieutenant colonel from my district just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, James McLaughlin, Jr., of Santa Rosa, California, was killed while working as a contractor training military pilots in Afghanistan. He died along with eight others when an Afghan pilot turned on his allies and went on a shooting spree during a meeting at the Kabul airport. Bin Laden's death won't bring Jim McLaughlin back, nor will it bring back the 1,500-plus Americans who have lost their lives in Afghanistan. The horror of this war continues unabated.

So with Osama bin Laden's death, I believe that it is past time for somber reflection--reflection about the policies of the last 10 years and about where we might go from here. It is time to rethink our entire approach to national security.

We can save so much in lives, in money, in global credibility, and in moral authority with a smart security platform that puts diplomacy and development aid before guns and tanks: a platform that uses American power for humanitarian ends, a platform that empowers and invests in the people of Afghanistan instead of invading and occupying their country.

We have a chance now to change course. The trauma of 9/11 was profound, but it also led to some disastrous choices, from the war in Iraq, to roving wiretaps, to waterboarding, to the surge in Afghanistan. Now that the 9/11 mastermind is gone, it is time to turn a new page.

It has to begin with a swift move toward military redeployment out of Afghanistan. We cannot continue down this road of permanent warfare. The costs are too great. I've never ever felt more strongly, Mr. Speaker, that it is time to bring our troops home.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a valued institution that has been part of the fabric of life in Marin County for 75 years-- the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.

A nonpartisan organization of women and men with over 200 members, the Marin League has worked for many years to encourage informed participation of citizens in government, to increase the understanding of public issues, and to influence policy through education and advocacy.

Over the years the League has hosted hundreds of Pros and Cons presentations on ballot measures for the public, organized live, televised and webcast debates for almost every elected office in the county, sponsored voter registration drives in local high schools and colleges, and mailed thousands of postcards advising voters on how to evaluate negative candidate mailers. In addition, it has been involved in supporting local ballot measures and hosting guest speakers from a variety of organizations to help educate the public as well as continuing a tradition of monthly Action meetings.

The League has worked with local organizations dedicated to improving life in Marin

County and has actively studied many issues crucial to the community. These include affordable housing, transportation and land use measures, early childhood education, college scholarships, health care, and water supply.

As a Congressional candidate, I have participated in the League's debates and have truly appreciated its balanced, non-partisan approach. Questions from League moderators are invariably thoughtful, balanced, and germane, allowing voters to hear positions on the important issues of the day.

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the League of Women Voters of Marin County on this important anniversary. For 75 years, it has encouraged voter participation and education while promoting good government for Marin.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 30th anniversary of 10,000 Degrees, a unique Marin County nonprofit formed to connect low-income students with the resources necessary to make their college dreams a reality. Established on the principle that educational equity is both the foundation and the responsibility of a strong community, 10,000 Degrees has already made an invaluable contribution to the future of Marin County.

Originally known as Marin Education Fund, 10,000 Degrees targets youth of all ages to ensure that their image of a college education is one of possibility. No one should be denied the opportunity to excel in school simply because of personal or financial circumstances, and no society can afford to squander the talent and ambition of its young people simply because they are allowed to question their future.

10,000 Degrees offers programs to empower our students. For those in elementary or middle school, it makes introductions to local college campuses and to positive role models pursuing higher education. For those in high school, it offers scholarships, financial aid training, and a number of intensive college preparation and mentorship seminars that set students on the path to college.

In keeping with its commitment to equity, 10,000 Degrees is particularly effective in targeting those students most at risk of leaving the educational system. It tailors programs to low-income and first-generation graduates, building linkages between peers struggling with the same barriers to success, and earning an enviable track record in the process. Every one of the students in its mentorship program has graduated high school, 98 percent have enrolled in college, and 84 percent have graduated.

Mr. Speaker, I ask you to join me in congratulating 10,000 Degrees on its 30th anniversary in Marin. It is organizations such as these that strengthen and enrich our county, and we are grateful to them for their passion, their expertise, and their dedication to our community.

Mr. Speaker, it is with both great sadness and a sense of great honor that I rise today, along with my colleague, Mike Thompson, to honor and pay tribute to Mitchell ``Mitch'' Mulas, of Sonoma, California, who passed away March 31, 2011, of complications following heart surgery.

It is no exaggeration to say that Mitch Mulas was an icon in Sonoma County and a role model for generations of fire fighters, teachers and students, and farmers. He represented the best in community service and in devotion to his family.

Mitch was born in 1928 in Sonoma, California, the son of an Italian immigrant father and a mother who survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. He met his wife, Nilda, when he was 15 and she was 13. They had their first date three years later, and three years following that, they were married. Nilda was his partner, friend and soul mate and survives him in his passing.

Mitch was a dairy farmer and a leader in the county's agricultural organizations. He joined the Farm Bureau after he graduated from high school and served as President from 1965-1967 and 1985-1986. He was inducted into the Sonoma County Farm Bureau Hall of Fame in 2002.

He took a brief hiatus from leadership positions within the Farm Bureau to serve on the Sonoma Valley Unified School Board for 12 years from 1969 to 1981. His influence stretched from the classroom to the football field, where he anchored a favorite spot in the bleachers each season. Not only did he receive the district's ``Salute to Education'' award but the Sonoma Valley High School Athletic Hall of Fame created the Mulas Family Recognition Award in his honor, which is presented annually to persons or businesses in the Sonoma Valley who have contributed time and resources to student athletes and coaches.

Mitch was also the ``Chief,'' a title he wore with distinction and pride. In 1942, at the age 14, he helped his father start what later became the Shell-Vista Fire Protection District. He served first as a volunteer firefighter, was named Assistant Chief in 1955 and served in that position until he was named Chief in 1968. He served in that position until his death.

Mr. Speaker, Mitch Mulas was a farmer, educator, activist and sports enthusiast who also protected his community for 69 years as a firefighter. But above all else, he was a devoted family man who is survived by his wife, Nilda, four children, six grandchildren and two great grandchildren. An entire community mourns his passing, and it is appropriate that we honor him at this time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor an American hero, Tom Smothers of Kenwood, California, who is receiving the Jack Green Civil Liberties Award from the Sonoma County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Tommy Smothers is a fitting recipient for an award that has been presented for more than two decades to community members who have transformed their life-long commitment to civil liberties, human rights and social justice into action. Well known for battling censors while producing television's acclaimed Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Tommy has long been a symbol of resistance to censorship, fighting to present matters of vital interest to a wide American audience.

Working with his brother Dick, his career as an entertainer, comedian, and musician, began in 1959 with the formation of The Smothers Brothers, a folk-singing and comedy act. In 1967, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour debuted on CBS-TV and quickly established itself as something unique during a time when variety/comedy shows were television staples. The show revolutionized prime-time by using comedy to delve into taboo subjects--drugs, racism, police brutality--and to satirize politicians and criticize the Vietnam War. Singers like Pete Seeger, who had been blacklisted since the 1950s, were frequent guests.

CBS soon realized that these topics were hotter than the network could handle. As the show's producer, Tom fought against censorship, but The Smothers Brothers were fired in April, 1969, ostensibly for failing to comply with rules for submitting tapes of the show for review before broadcasting. The brothers then won a case against CBS for breach of contract. They continued to tour and perform until 2010, becoming the longest-running comedy act in U.S. history

Forty years later, Tom received an Emmy award for his writing on the show which he dedicated ``to all of the people who feel compelled to speak out and not afraid to speak to power and won't shut up and refuse to be silenced.''

This certainly describes Tom Smothers who continues to speak out to this day. Now living in Sonoma County with his wife Marcy, he is an inspirational model for our community and people across the nation.

Mr. Speaker, Tom Smothers' receipt of the Jack Green Civil Liberties Award reminds us of his statement, ``The only valid censorship of ideas is the right of people not to listen.'' This is a lesson we can all take to heart today as we celebrate Tom's talents and leadership in defense of our rights.

Mr. Speaker, Americans for Democratic Action has launched a Progressive agenda for jobs, rejuvenating the American economy, saving Social Security, and raising the minimum wage.

Jobs

Workers without jobs can't provide adequately for the basic needs of their families. The unemployment crisis is damaging families and contributing to a multitude of economic and social ills, including:

The highest poverty rate for working-age people between 18 and 64-- 12.9% in 2009--since 1965. Today, 43.6 million Americans are living in poverty, 19 million of whom are in deep poverty.

Workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own often cannot pay mortgages and rent, even when receiving unemployment benefits, which are not equivalent to wages lost. The foreclosure crisis--primarily the outcome of misdeeds of bankers and mortgage brokers--is driving further declines in home values while destroying once-vibrant neighborhoods. Joblessness also contributes to increased homelessness, which is not only tragic for families who lose their homes, but is accompanied by broader social harms and increased budget pressures on already strapped local and state governments.

Unemployed workers--along with many who are still employed--are losing employer-based health insurance coverage. In 2009, 50.7 million people were without health insurance--the highest number of uninsured since the Census started collecting the data in 1987. Joblessness is increasing pressure on public programs such as Medicaid, while increased use of uncovered emergency services by those with no other option for care is driving further increases in healthcare costs for small businesses and those still fortunate enough to have jobs and healthcare coverage.

Workers without jobs can't pay taxes that provide the resources to hire teachers, police and firefighters, build and maintain roads, provide for appropriate national security, ensure product safety, protect the environment, and fill urgent long- and short-term national needs.

We condemn the folly of deficit slashing while 15 million Americans remain unemployed--plus 11 million more who are under-employed or have dropped from the labor force. Insufficient economic demand and idle productive capacity in the economy, in the short-term, bleeds federal and state budgets, whether or not current economic conditions meet the official definition of ``recession.'' Reckless spending (except perhaps for ill-conceived and poorly executed wars) is not the cause of our budget woes. This is made obvious as conservatives decry the deficit, but cannot or will not name any specific government program they would slash in order to meet their demands for deficit reduction.

Job creation--and the economic growth that spurs job creation--is the only way to reduce a budget deficit that is primarily the result of high unemployment. Unemployed workers represent idle productive capacity--lost wages and lost economic output. Lost wages reduce demand for goods, services, and investment, and depress tax receipts. Without consumers with money to spend, firms don't invest or hire, leading to more joblessness and still lower output. That leads to declining tax receipts along with growing demand for automatic stabilizers (such as unemployment benefits) and safety net services (such as Medicaid, food stamps, and housing assistance). Government deficits are inevitable in economic downturns with high unemployment.

Since firms will not hire or invest where demand is lacking, and unemployed workers cannot expand consumption and increase demand, only the government can spur growth--through deficit spending and investment. Tax cuts may be helpful, but in the current climate, direct spending and investment will more quickly and more strongly stimulate demand. Investing now in America's current and future prosperity is the remedy for both joblessness and the long-term budget deficit.

Conservatives argue that austerity will spur economic growth. That argument is based on evidence that fiscal austerity reduces interest rates (borrowing costs) for firms, and thus stimulates investment. But the evidence for this model does not mirror current conditions. Interest rates in the U.S. are already at historically low levels, yet firms are not investing or hiring. Moreover, few of the countries that experienced rapid growth while practicing fiscal austerity adopted austerity when the economy was operating far below its potential level of output, and in no case was a country as far below its potential as the U.S. is today.

Furthermore, all of the evidence that austerity fosters growth comes from countries with a much larger percentage of their economy involved in export industries than is the case with the U.S. Trade provides a source of demand for countries with a large export sector. The U.S. currently cannot rely on export-led growth to stimulate sufficient demand to reduce unemployment. For unemployment to be reduced in the short run, domestic demand must be increased. Thus, arguments for slashing government budgets in order to stimulate jobs and economic growth are not credible under current economic conditions.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, ARRA, may have created or saved up to 3.3 million jobs and averted a second Great Depression, according to the independent Congressional Budget Office, CBO, estimates. But simple math shows that it was woefully insufficient to offset the loss of $2.1 trillion in

economic activity, $3.4 trillion in lost home values, and $7.4 trillion in lost stock values in 2009 and 2010. Not only was $787 billion in stimulus insufficient to offset the losses, it was also swamped by an estimated $570 billion in spending cuts by state and local governments over the 2009-10 period.

Thus, the stimulus provided by ARRA and other measures amounted to only about $126 billion per year for 2009 and 2010. The total effective stimulus was perhaps only 10% of the output lost.

By 2014, the CBO projects that total lost output will reach $3.4 trillion--more than $11,000 per person--assuming unemployment returns to normal levels by then. That figure will be worse if unemployment remains high. Additional and substantial economic stimulus that more realistically accounts for current economic realities is required, both to create jobs and to begin building the foundation for a prosperous future in which budget deficits can be reduced without causing economic contraction during a period of record unemployment.

The way to achieve a balanced federal budget is with a sound banking system and rational monetary policy; government investment (recognizing the difference between spending and investment); and full employment at decent wages and benefits.

We need jobs, and we have much work to do.

A great nation can't remain great with crumbling bridges and schools, bursting water mains, leaking untreated sewage, grossly inadequate transportation systems, over-dependence on foreign oil, unaffordable higher education, and broadband preparedness that ranks 15th among OECD countries. ADA calls for restoring America's global competitive position with a restored manufacturing base, and rebuilt and expanded public infrastructure including broadband, throughout the nation.

A great nation consists of livable cities and towns that work for people, with decent affordable housing, quality public schools, well- designed and functioning public transportation systems, and jobs that provide decent wages. Cities cannot be warehouses for vast numbers of homeless and impoverished people who have no prospects and no hope.

A great nation will be at the forefront of addressing global problems that have resulted from past mistakes. Global warming, polluted water, and energy insecurity require investment in high-speed railroads and mass transit systems; emission-free vehicles and the infrastructure to power them; research, development, and construction of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and waterpower.

America, with enforced fair labor standards and collective bargaining rights. To begin the process of restoring America's industrial- employment base, ADA calls for fair trade policies that promote economic activity and lift wages in all nations, including our own; reformed tax policies that reward companies for creating jobs here, rather than for shipping them overseas; and national and local purchasing goals that support American manufacturing.

For community restoration and further job growth, ADA calls for doubling funding for programs to employ youth--including high school dropouts, high school graduates, and college graduates. This includes expanding AmeriCorps, the Job Corps, and the Peace Corps, a renewed Civilian Conservation Corps to restore our national parks and forests, a Neighborhood Corps to protect, maintain and revitalize (or as necessary demolish) distressed housing, and Home Care Corps providing services to the elderly in their own homes.

These ambitious programs, sparked by public investments, will generate millions of jobs that pay middle-class wages, serving urgent national needs and restoring the private economy. These are the necessary underpinning of a strong America.

Mr. Speaker, my first thought when watching the news last night was about the people who have a hole in their hearts and in their homes because of the senseless brutal violence perpetrated by Osama bin Laden. There was 9/11, of course, but also the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the embassy bombings in east Africa, and the attack on the USS Cole. Osama bin Laden is responsible for so much evil, and I hope that the families of his victims can now find some measure of peace and closure.

Bin Laden is dead, but the terrorism threat that he represents remains alive and well. The network he created continues to thrive. And I believe, Mr. Speaker, that al Qaeda will remain strong as long as we continue our policy of aggressive militarism in the Middle East. I would like to see what happened on Sunday be the beginning of bringing our troops home and removing the very need for military action in the Middle East.

Mr. Speaker, Americans or Democratic Action has launched a Progressive agenda for jobs, rejuvenating the American economy, saving Social Security, and raising the minimum wage.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a loyal friend, a brave hero, and a caring individual who recently turned 92 years young. Retired Colonel Jack Potter of San Rafael California, was born March 20, 1919, served in the Army from World War II through 1974, and has consistently worked for the benefit of veterans since his retirement.

It has been my privilege to work closely with Col. Potter for 18 years. His friendship and assistance have been invaluable to me over those years. Through Jack, I learned about veterans' issues, from the importance of national legislation to ensure they get the benefits they deserve to some of the challenges faced by local vets in Marin County. On Memorial Day, 2008, we authored a column together in the local newspaper calling for better benefits and health treatment for our veterans.

Jack was drafted into the Army in 1941. He was commissioned as an Infantry 2nd Lt. after Pearl Harbor and commanded an Infantry Rifle company seeing combat in the South Pacific. He remained in the Army after the war, serving in Europe, Korea, and South America, as well as in many positions stateside. He also attended The Industrial College of the Armed Forces and earned an MBA at George Washington University.

During the Vietnam conflict, Jack was assigned as the Commander of the Vietnam Region Exchange which operated more than 150 exchange activities with a total of more than 10,000 personnel. He continued his service stateside, in California, where his assignment as Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics for the Sixth U.S. Army brought him to the Presidio in the Bay Area. He retired on August 1, 1974, after serving 33 years, 4 months, and 15 days on active duty. On the date of his retirement ceremonies, Jack was testifying in Nebraska in the federal trial of the American Indian Movement. At 12:01 a.m. on August 2, the U.S. Attorney General purchased Jack's first drink as a civilian.

After 31 changes of station, Jack and his wife now live in Marin County, California where Jack became active in veteran's affairs. Serving in various positions in the Military Officers Association of America, and the Marin County United Veterans Council, Jack has been a whirlwind for veterans' causes--he advocated personally for a number of vets who needed help, organized Veterans and Memorial Day events and a Tricare information session with me, and still found time to regularly bring doughnuts to my office staff.

One of Jack's most prominent roles was that of Master of Ceremonies at Marin County's Memorial Day celebrations. He last served that function in 2009, before retiring for health reasons. At that emotional event, 500 people honored Army Spc. Jake Velloza who had recently been killed in Iraq. Jake's name was added to a veteran's monument that had been built at Jack's urging. And Jack was thrilled to learn that recently the House of Representatives passed my bill to name the local post office in Inverness after Jake Velloza.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a privilege to work with and work for Col. Jack Potter. His quiet determination on behalf of all veterans is a reminder of the daily heroism and sacrifice of all our troops. Thank you, Jack, for all your efforts.

Mr. Chairman, there is one proposed budget that ends the war in Afghanistan, cuts Cold War-era weapons systems, completely eliminates the deficit within 10 years and aligns the Tax Code with the values of working families. And that's the people's budget submitted by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Instead of taking away health care from seniors by gutting Medicare, the people's budget provides more affordable health care with a robust public option that would save this Nation's taxpayers $68 billion over 7 years.

The majority's budget will cost Americans 1.7 million jobs over the next 3 years. Our budget puts America back to work with badly needed investments in transportation, infrastructure, and a 21st-century education system.

We have a choice. The majority budget which demands more sacrifice from struggling families and gives the wealthy a free ride; or the progressive budget which invests in people, creates a budget surplus, and brings our troops home.

I urge my colleagues, make a smart, fiscally responsible choice. Vote for the people's budget.

Mr. Speaker, 14 hours from now it appears the doors of the Federal Government will shut. And it will happen for one reason and one reason alone--because of the Republican majority's inflexibility, callousness, and political gamesmanship.

For 3 months, they have been in charge of the people's House, but they haven't done one thing that the people want.

They haven't lifted a finger to create the jobs Americans so desperately need. One Republican Member, in fact, said on the House floor last week that we should stop talking about the jobs. Stop talking about the jobs? They don't want to talk about jobs because they don't have a plan to create any. They've offered nothing but deep, painful, unnecessary job-killing spending cuts, and they have refused to budge an inch.

I want to cut government spending, Mr. Speaker. But I don't want to take the money from children who need early childhood education. I don't want to take the money from families that need help paying for colleges. And I don't want to take the money from seniors who need medical care.

I want to cut the gobs and gobs of money, nearly $7 billion every single month, we're spending to occupy a foreign nation and have our servicemen killed and maimed by insurgents.

You want to eliminate wasteful government spending? I say the war in Afghanistan could be number one on our list. Ten years after we started sending our troops there we continue to be stuck in a hopeless quagmire that doesn't doing anything to eliminate the terrorist threat or accomplish our national security goals.

But, of course, the Republican leadership won't consider cutting more spending. Instead they want to go after middle class working families who need a government that's on their side, particularly now because of how dire the economy has become.

I hope my Republican colleagues will give up this childish refusal to compromise. The American people deserve better than to have their government held hostage by an extreme ideological agenda.

Let's keep the doors of the Federal Government open. And as we look to next year's budget, instead of making seniors and schoolchildren bear the sacrifice, and instead of dismantling Medicare and cutting education, instead of threatening women's health, why don't we restore fiscal sanity by finally bringing our troops home.

Madam Speaker, my friends on other side of the aisle released their budget blueprint for 2012 yesterday. Let's leave aside for the moment that they're prepared to shut down the government rather than fund it at acceptable levels for the rest of fiscal year 2011. If you thought H.R. 1 was bad, wait until you see what they have in store for 2012 and the decade to come.

It's an appalling, radical, and reckless proposal. They want to shred the social safety net and decimate the programs for the most vulnerable Americans, the programs that they depend on to get through day-to-day life. They demand sacrifice from working families and the middle class, but none, no sacrifice from special interests and the big oil companies.

I saw a lot of words in their budget proposal. But one that I don't believe was mentioned a single time is ``Afghanistan.'' The war in Afghanistan, in addition to having cost us more than 1,500 American lives, is costing the taxpayers nearly $7 billion a month and is

proving to be a crashing failure. This war is in its 10th year, and we still haven't vanquished the Taliban. We still haven't brought a stable democracy to Afghanistan. And we still haven't trained the Afghans to take responsibility for their own security.

The Republicans want to cut wasteful, ineffective government programs. Well, if that is true, I suggest the majority start with Afghanistan before going after American seniors, schoolchildren, and working people. My Republican colleagues believe in limited government as long as the things they're limiting are taxes paid by special interests and investments in people who need a helping hand. When it comes to foreign invasions and decade-long military occupations, Republicans are the biggest spenders of all.

With these priorities, not only have they lost their moral compass, they've lost the American people as well. Recent polling shows that overwhelming majorities want to see spending on Medicare, Medicaid, and education increased or stay the same. By contrast, nearly two-thirds of Americans are fed up with the war in Afghanistan and don't think it's worth fighting.

It's impossible, Madam Speaker, to take seriously any budget proposal that doesn't even mention Afghanistan or Iraq and doesn't cut billions and billions in wasteful war spending from the budget.

It's time to bring our troops home. It's the right thing to do. It's what the people want. It's a sensible, humane, and compassionate path to fiscal responsibility.

Mr. Speaker, it was exactly 1 year ago today that an explosion ripped through Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, killing 29 workers. It was the deadliest mine accident in 40 years. But perhaps ``accident'' is the wrong word to characterize what happened in Montcoal, West Virginia, last year April 5. This wasn't a hurricane, it wasn't a tsunami or some other act of nature.

Although the Mine Safety and Health Agency, MSHA, has yet to complete their investigation, it is absolutely clear from the preliminary reports that this tragedy was avoidable but for negligence and carelessness on the part of Massey Energy.

When Chairman Miller and I traveled to West Virginia with Congressman Rahall, miners told us that Massey routinely cut corners on safety. And yet the miners were afraid--they told us this too--to come forward for fear of losing their jobs. That's why we need stronger Federal whistleblower protections, Mr. Speaker. MSHA inspectors can't be everywhere all the time. So we need to rely on the people who know best. We need to rely on the workers, those that can report safety violations, because they are living with them. We must ensure that these workers have job protection when they come forward.

The questions we need to be asking ourselves are what can we be doing to make sure this does not happen again to them? What can we do to ensure that our Nation's coal miners, some of the hardest working and courageous people you will ever meet, aren't descending into a potential death trap every time they clock in?

But the silence from the United States Congress has been positively deafening. It is incomprehensible to me that we still haven't passed the Robert C. Byrd Miner Safety and Health Act. How many miners have to die before we take action?

Worker safety, not just in mines, but in workplaces above ground and across the Nation, is under siege thanks to irresponsible cuts in the Republican continuing resolution. Fully half of OSHA's staff would be furloughed if H.R. 1 becomes law.

A weak economy like this one that we are living in right now also further undermines worker safety, because as workers who want to report violations know, there are dozens who would take their jobs in spite of unsafe conditions just to have work.

Mr. Speaker, last Congress I was chair and now this Congress I am the ranking minority member of the Workforce Protection Subcommittee, and in that role I am absolutely committed, along with Congressman George Miller and Nicky Rahall, to bringing OSHA and MSHA into the 21st century, strengthening regulations to protect people from injury, sickness, and possible death on the job.

Needless to say, the Upper Big Branch explosion has devastated a tight-knit community with so many families still coping with grief. Gary Quarles, who testified before the Education and Labor Committee last year, said ``The life's been sucked right out of me'' because he lost his only child in the explosion. Another man says of the death of his twin brother, ``It's like part of me is gone.'' One woman lost her fiance, whom she met when they worked side-by-side in the mine. And I cannot imagine the ordeal of Timothy Blake, who survived the blast and tried in vain to save eight coworkers.

But on this one 1-year anniversary, Mr. Speaker, let's do more than look back. Let's do more than remember and be sad. Let's use this tragedy as a call to action. In honor of the 29 fallen miners, let's give their coworkers the safety and protection they deserve.